Web Users Guild went on a mission to find out. First we contacted some of the top Wireless Telephone service providers the U.S., Verizon, ATT, Tmobile and Sprint, with a combine total of over 250 million users. To our surprise nobody that we spoke with could tell us.

1. Who owns the intellectual property rights to the telephone numbers they issue out to their customers?

2. Why customers cant own their telephone number?

We Contacted the USPTO and asked if they would provide the name of the inventor of the telephone numbering code system where all telephone number derive from and was told that there was no record of an patent issued for the system. We Contacted the Library of congress and asked for the registered copyright holder’s name of the Telephone Numbering Code System.They were not ale to provide it. We were referred to contact The North America Numbering Plan Association (NANPA). To Our dismay NANPA told us that they only administer the Telephone numbers and was not owners, but couldn’t provide any information regarding ownership.